The best mattresses for back pain

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The best mattresses for back pain
  • If you've suffered long enough with back pain, it's time to wake up to the advantages of a supportive, quality mattress.
  • The Amerisleep AS2 is as good as it gets when it comes to helping your back feel its best.
  • See more: The best mattresses
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According to the National Institute of Health, more than 80% of the US population will feel the misery of acute back pain at some time during their life, and an estimated 10% of the population has chronic lower back pain, making the condition the second most common cause of disability claims.

While the root causes of back pain are many - including sprains and strains, accidents, and spinal degeneration - there are other common issues that add to the misery: too much time spent sitting, lack of exercise, poor posture, genetics, and repetitive workplace motions, to name just a few.

Although a good mattress isn't going to completely cure a bad back, it can go far in helping relieve the pain. Sleeping on a mattress that doesn't give proper support - especially an old, saggy mattress - is a recipe for a morning marked by stiffness and "ouch" with every bend and twist.

Choosing a new mattress can be a chore, however. There are a lot of brands on the market, and a good mattress can be quite expensive. Luckily, we're here to help. We've done the research for you and rounded up the best mattresses to help relieve back pain.

Here are the best mattresses for back pain:

Prices and links current as of 1/30/20.

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The best mattress for back pain overall

The best mattress for back pain overall
The medium-firm Amerisleep AS2 mattress has memory foam that cradles and supports your body, relieving pressure and discomfort.

Not only does the Amerisleep AS2 help relieve back pain and provide a great night of sleep, it's easier on the environment as well. Amerisleep produces its memory foam in a closed chamber, eliminating the hefty dose of harsh chemicals usually created (and expelled) in the production of this comfortable foam. Its eco-friendly production techniques ultimately lead to a mattress with very little of the lung-irritating Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) so common to memory foam.

It's not only your lungs that will thank you, however, for a night spent sleeping on the Amerisleep AS2. Your back is going to love you as well. The heart of the mattress is Amerisleep's Bio-Pur memory foam — a plant-based foam that cradles your body without building up body heat. That means you won't wake up hot and sweaty, a common problem with memory foam.

A layer of Active Flex foam lies atop the Bio-Pur foam. Active Flex has high conformability and excels at relieving pressure point pain. In between the two layers of foams, there's an Affinity layer for even more comfort, and a layer of textured channels to keep body heat from stagnating inside the mattress.

Top it all off with a Celliant fabric cover that recycles body heat into infrared light, and you end up with a mattress that is supremely comfortable, supportive, and great for anyone suffering from back pain.

Sleep Junkie chose the Amerisleep AS2 as the top pick for back pain, commenting that, "When it comes to reducing back pain, the AS2 also has Amerisleep's Surface Modification Technology (SMT). SMT is clinically shown to reduce pressure points up to 49%. It works by grouping hundreds of six-sided foam supports into five comfort zones to provide targeted pressure relief."

People who bought the AS2 heap praise on the mattress. Over and over, they use phrases such as, "So comfortable," "Best night of sleep ever," "No more back pain," and "Very firm and supportive." A few customers did say the mattress was too firm for their liking, but Amerisleep will return or exchange the mattress within 100 days if you don't like it.

Pros: Free shipping and delivery, easy returns within the first 100 days, excellent support and conformability, low VOCs, and few complaints of the mattress "sleeping hot."

Cons: Only available online, somewhat expensive

The best adjustable air mattress for back pain

The best adjustable air mattress for back pain
With the Sleep Number c4, you can tailor the support just the way you like it by adjusting the amount of air inside the mattress.

According to Sleep Like the Dead, people who own adjustable air mattresses report the most relief from back pain. Sleep Number mattresses contain dual air bladders, which you can easily adjust by adding or removing air to reach the perfect level of support your back needs.

The Sleep Number c4, which is one of the classic, less-expensive Sleep Number mattresses, not only lets you adjust the air fill, and thus the support level, it also has a 1-1/2-inch layer of comfort foam for even more support, and a three-zoned foam layer that is contoured to relieve pressure in your head, back, and hips. Top it all off with a breathable, knit fabric cover, and you have a mattress that treats your back right.

But what really makes Sleep Number special is that you and your sleeping partner can each tailor their side of the bed to the preferred level of firmness and support. So if you like it as firm as it gets, but your partner wants it a bit softer, no problem and no argument. Just reach for your remote controls and go to the "sleep number" you each prefer.

While there are several Sleep Number mattresses with more bells and whistles than the c4, they'll naturally cost more.

Pros: Adjustable firmness and support for both bed partners

Cons: While reasonably priced by Sleep Number standards, it's still a fairly expensive mattress

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The best innerspring mattress for back pain

The best innerspring mattress for back pain
A mattress so comfortable it won the Chiropractic Seal of Approval, the Saatva Classic features two different layers of individually-wrapped coils and memory foam for great spinal support.

If you like an innerspring mattress, you like to drift off to dreamland in the highest level of comfort, and you want your back to feel its very best, it's hard to go wrong with a mattress from Saatva.

This is a mattress with every luxury. There are three firmness levels, but each mattress features individually-wrapped coils conform to your every curve while a lower layer of wrapped coils provide support and firmness. A layer of high-quality memory foam provides even more cushioning comfort, and there's a support system around the perimeter of the mattress so it won't sag when you lie or sit near the edge. Finish the whole thing off with a Euro pillow-top, and you have a mattress fit for royalty.

The Saatva mattress is so good for your back, it's been chosen as the official mattress for the Healthbridge Sleep Medicine Center, and the extra wire support for your spine contained in the mattresses' center third won it the Chiropractic Seal of Approval.

Mattress Guides reviewed the Saatva mattress extensively, giving it a 4.7-out-of-5-star rating. Buyers on Saatva's website laud the mattress for relieving back pain, providing exceptional support and comfort, and giving a great night of sleep.

Pros: Exceptional support and comfort from an innerspring mattress

Cons: Expensive

The best affordable mattress for back pain

The best affordable mattress for back pain
If you want to treat your back right but also want to watch your budget, you'll love Bear's reasonably priced, high-density foam mattress, which features just the right amount of bounce.

Targeted towards athletic and active people who want to keep their back and joints in tip-top shape, Bear has created a mattress that's not too firm, not too soft, but pure comfort all the way.

It has a core of high-density foam that keeps your spine aligned properly, a transition layer for just enough "bounce" to prevent pressure or pain, an upper layer of cooling graphite-gel memory foam that supports you without trapping body heat, and a woven Celliant outer cover that converts body heat into infrared light.

Sleep Advisor chose this as one of the best mattresses for back pain, saying, "The mattress does a nice job relieving pressure while also providing bounce. It has quick responsiveness with an inch of slightly slower-responding memory foam on top."

Mattress Guides also reviewed the Bear mattress, giving it high praise for comfort, reasonable price, use of mostly green materials (meaning you don't have to worry about off-gassing or toxic chemicals), and excellent support.

Pros: Reasonable price, excellent support, particularly good for active people who want to protect their back

Cons: Only comes in one level of firmness, which is medium

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How to choose a mattress that's good for back pain

How to choose a mattress that's good for back pain

It was once recommended that those with back problems sleep on a very firm mattress, but that advice is long debunked. Today, back experts recommend a medium-firm mattress, which gives plenty of spine support without putting pressure on your shoulders, neck, and hips.

Three terms you'll hear bandied about quite a bit at a mattress store are firmness, supportiveness, and conformability.

  • Firmness refers to how much the mattress "pushes back" against your weight. A very firm mattress pushes back a lot and keeps you above the mattress's top, while a very soft mattress pushes back a little and lets you sink down into the mattress a bit. While preference is important, for most people with bad backs, the best bet is medium-firm.
  • Supportiveness refers to how well it keeps your spine in alignment while you recline. A mattress with good support helps keep your head, shoulders, hips, and back in a relaxed, neutral position with no bending, sagging, or pressure.
  • Conformability is the meeting point between the mattress's firmness and supportiveness. It refers to the way the mattress conforms, or molds itself, to your body's curves. The right mattress conforms itself enough to relieve pressure on your joints without letting your back or hips sag or sink.

Whether it be memory foam, air, innerspring, or some other type, the best mattresses for back pain hit the sweet spot for all three of the above traits.

Check out our other guides for bedding and mattresses

Check out our other guides for bedding and mattresses
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We spend nearly a third of our lifespan sleeping on our beds, so why wouldn't you want the best sheets possible? Not only do you want something soft and comfortable, but you also want something that's durable and can hold up to washes. That's why we combed through reviews, listened to opinions from bed sheet buyers, and tested sheets ourselves to compile our list. See more: The best sheets you can buy.

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